Communique 2018-2019

communiqué

College of Humanities, Arts & Sciences Alumni Magazine

University of Northern Iowa

PRINTMAKING ALUMNI WIN NATIONAL AWARDS

BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

ADDS MICRO-CT

CHEMISTRY CLASS STUDIES MASTODON TUSK

MESSAGE from the DEAN

Today, several of the departments in the College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences hosted alumni as part of our Alumni-in-Residence program. On a beautiful (if somewhat overcast) autumn day, these alums came to campus to meet with students and faculty, and although each graduated from different departments, there were many commonalities about their visit.

The group shared the successes they have experienced in their careers and reminisced about their time at UNI. They spoke about how the physical appearance of the campus changed since they were on campus as students. They mentioned the new buildings (Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center), or recently remodeled buildings (Bartlett Hall), or buildings that no longer stand on campus (Baker Hall). The physical campus is very different, even for the more recent alums.

The alums also talked about their experiences at UNI. Each mentioned professors who challenged them and friends who helped them learn about life beyond the classroom. Each spoke about academic experiences outside the classroom—ranging from tasting trees on campus as part of a biology assignment to student teaching in the local community—that helped form their lives. Their time on campus was shaped by people and experiences that were unique to UNI. It is this part of the UNI experience that is very much the same.

In this issue of Communiqué we are featuring several stories about current and former students and the impact that caring faculty and outstanding experiences outside the classroom are having on them. These experiences lead to fascinating opportunities and careers. There are not many universities that can claim to have a music major working at NASA, undergraduates preserving Mastodon tusks or a celebration of 50 years hosting the oldest literary review in the nation. We are proud that in each of these stories you will find students working closely with outstanding faculty on exciting projects.

I hope you will find these stories reflective of the type of experiences you had at UNI.

Sincerely,

John Fritch, Ph.D. Dean, College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences

“WE THANK UNI FOR ITS CONTINUING ROLE IN PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THEIR CHOSEN CAREERS.”

Ron and Mary Bro enjoy

GIVING BACK

A University of Northern Iowa education took Ron Bro from Iowa to Oregon to Egypt and beyond. After his travels, he spent the last 25 years of his teaching career at UNI. It felt like a return home. Now, with his wife Mary, he’s giving back.

Ron (’55 Industrial Arts, ’58 MA Industrial Arts) and Mary (’54 2-year teaching certificate, ’83 General Studies) want to provide scholarship support for students going into Technology Education to help lessen the financial load of today’s graduates. They have included UNI in their future giving plans by providing for the creation of the Ron and Mary Bro Scholarship Endowment.

The Bros belong to that special group of alumni who, during their years in Cedar Falls, saw the university’s transition from Iowa State Teachers College to State College of Iowa to finally the University of Northern Iowa. But they have seen far more than name changes at UNI in the last 60 years. Ron fondly recalls rooming in Stadium Hall, catching football games on O.R. Latham Field, and frequenting classrooms in the Arts and Industries Building with drafting tables and T-squares. But despite UNI’s evolution to state-of-the-art dormitories, advanced athletic facilities and modern teaching facilities, the Bros still feel the same connection and loyalty to the university that launched their careers in education.

“UNI’s outstanding faculty and curricula enabled us to excel as teachers,” Ron said. “It enabled me to follow a career path far greater than I ever imagined as a farm boy growing up in southwest Iowa. My teaching career has taken Mary and me from Iowa to Nebraska, Oregon, Egypt and Zimbabwe. I was thrilled to return to UNI for my final 25 years of teaching.” Ron was on the faculty in the Department of Industrial Technology and served as department head twice, while Mary taught preschool in Cedar Falls.

Ron, son of immigrant parents who farmed in southwest Iowa and the youngest of 12 children, was the ninth Bro sibling to come to UNI when he arrived as a freshman in 1951. Mary grew up in Clinton and the two met shortly after coming to Cedar Falls. Ron says he owed just $200 when he graduated. He and Mary both worked during college, including jobs operating a switchboard, mopping floors at the old Mitzies Cleaners and making desserts for ISTC’s food service.

“We thank UNI for its continuing role in preparing students for their chosen careers,” says Ron, “and that’s why we gladly give to UNI. We think it’s payback time.”

Cassie Luze, Senior Director of Development, contributed to this story

MAKING AN IMPRESSION

THE PRINTMAKING PROGRAM AT UNI IS TRANSFORMATIONAL;

BOTH IN THE WORK AND FOR OUR STUDENTS.

A single word keeps coming up when discussing printmaking: magic. Art professors Tim Dooley and Aaron Wilson liken catching the first glimpse of a print to the ‘reveal’ of a magic trick. The end product is hidden by the process, whether it be a silkscreen or a press. And then, when the ink is in place and the result appears, it’s a transformation that causes excitement and awe.

It’s a process University of Northern Iowa alumni have mastered. Most notably, alumni have been recognized by the Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI) in three out of the past four years. SGCI is the nation’s largest organization of printmakers, and each year they award two fellowships, one for an undergraduate student and one for a graduate student. The fellowships come with a cash award and the opportunity to do a solo exhibition at the following year’s annual SGCI conference, providing great exposure.

Alumna Louise Fisher, currently in her last year of graduate school at Arizona State University, won this year’s graduate fellowship. Her solo exhibition will be in Dallas in March 2019 at the next SGCI conference. Fisher says she is fascinated by the way time moves in cycles. “The Iowa landscape taught me quite a bit about this when I was young— the stark change of seasons, the growth of crops, the movement of the stars across an expansive prairie sky, the regeneration of cicadas in the summer,” said Fisher. “Repetition is evidence of time passed; this is why I find myself drawn to printmaking and photography as they both have the potential to create multiples of the same image.”

Her current work for exhibition includes two series, combining large-scale prints with hand-drawn layers and photography. Her thesis project is exploring scientific, historic and poetic aspects of sleep and the day/night cycle, and she’ll also have an exhibit to showcase that work in the spring.

In 2016, Dana Potter won the undergraduate award as a UNI student. Her SGCI exhibition was held at the Hudgens Museum in Atlanta and featured a series of screenprints using social media advertisements and a group of prints exploring computer mouse movement tracking and interface layouts. Her work was based on her investigations in targeted digital advertising.

Potter has recently begun using eye tracking software on selfgenerated imagery in an “I Spy” format. In doing so, she’s exploring the nature of play and invention in technology, finding practical and impractical purposes. She’s currently a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, one of the highest-ranked graduate schools for printmaking.

UNI alumnus BJ Alumbaugh was awarded the 2015 SGCI graduate fellowship while he was a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. For his exhibition, held in Portland, Ore. in 2016, he created an installation centered around the shared experience of seeing in the visual spectrum. Using large mylar sheets with transparent ink, Alumbaugh created an optical experience through color multiplication of overlapping sheets.

Alumbaugh’s SGCI graduate fellowship showcase in Portland, Ore., 2016.

His current work is investigating the technological advancements of rendering images via colors, both printed and digitally with calculated dot patterns and color sequences. He works as a freelance designer and printer at Cryptic Press in Knoxville, Tenn.

“Each young person that comes through here has a different background and different ideas about how they want to succeed in the world. If we can open doors for them through printmaking, that thrills us.”

– Professor Aaron Wilson

Both Potter and Alumbaugh say their passion for printmaking developed while studying at UNI under Dooley and Wilson, who are themselves successful printmakers. The professors work to spread the joy of printmaking, both in students at UNI and in high schools around the state where they do workshops each semester.

“The magic really happens when one sees the first results of wet ink on paper. That’s where people make a lasting connection to printmaking,” Alumbaugh said.

Dooley and Wilson also credit UNI’s excellent facilities with creating a draw for enrollment and having the equipment necessary for young artists to excel. The studio has apparatus for digital output as well as largeformat hand-printing presses that provide capabilities most students haven’t been exposed to before.

The professors’ research into contemporary printmaking also lays a foundation for student success. “We often tie that research to emerging technologies in the field, such as utilizing a CNC laser to cut a woodblock for relief printing. This knowledge is passed down to our students to make sure they have a foundation based in both the traditional and the cutting edge,” said Dooley.

Their teaching style is proving successful as graduates of the printmaking program at UNI are attending the top graduate schools for printmaking, landing impressive internships and finding success at their professional endeavors. Alumnus Jake Manternach, a 2017 graduate, was recently hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to design game day posters and other marketing materials. He credits his printmaking pieces in helping him to land the job. Potter agrees, saying the success of the program and recent accolades received by participants “is a testament to Tim [Dooley] and Aaron’s [Wilson] commitment to providing students the resources and flexibility they need to make meaningful, beautiful and well-researched work.”

Opposite page: Potter at her SGCI exhibition #TheIdealAesthetic in 2017.

Below, clockwise from upper left: Alumbaugh’s current work; Fisher working in the studio; artwork from Potter’s undergraduate thesis show; a piece from Fisher’s UNI graduation exhibit.

MICRO SCANS, BIG OPPORTUNITIES

UNI’s Department of Biology brings anatomy class into the twenty-first century with micro-CT and 3D printer

GIVING STUDENTS ACCESS TO EXCITING TECHNOLOGIES WILL PREPARE THEM

FOR THEIR FUTURES.

The course is changing to mimic the dynamics of preprofessional programs such as veterinary and medical schools. Dissections will be done in groups and students will learn to operate the new equipment themselves. If they have already had these experiences as an undergraduate, they are better prepared for success at professional and graduate schools.

Imagine you could see right through an animal. You could examine its bones, or the way the muscles are structured, and see the wispy veins and arteries flowing through the animal right before you. Thanks to a grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, University of Northern Iowa biology students no longer have to use their imagination. The UNI Foundation helped to secure the award for just over $300,000 to fund the purchase of a micro-CT scanner, a 3D printer and computer work stations to operate the equipment. Now students can digitally dissect countless organisms, revealing the inner-workings of anatomy in precise detail, which can then be reproduced in 3D for further examination.

The micro-CT will be used to scan small specimens in the vertebrate anatomy class taught by Nathan Bird, assistant professor of biology. Bird says it’s a class that hasn’t changed much in the last hundred years, and it’s time that technology was utilized to make some big changes. Previously, students dissected a shark and a cat, representing the opposite ends of the vertebrate tree. But now, as long as the specimen fits into the 6-inch diameter opening of the machine, students can choose which organism they want to study and perform a digital dissection.

Scans from the micro-CT can be converted and reproduced on the 3D printer, so students will be able to output a bird skeleton or the organ system of a lizard. They can print a circulatory or nervous system four times larger than actual size to be able to study it in more detail. Vertebrate skulls can be printed, studied and put on display.

Preserved specimens can be obtained from museums, scanned and returned, while not destroying any tissues by dissecting. Then the scans can stay on file and can be rendered at will, so with each class the repository of different specimens available for study will grow.

Faculty Member, Nathan Bird, talks with a student about the anatomy of Sewellia lineolata (hillstream butterfly loach).

“It very quickly expands what is available for my students to look at and to play with,” Bird said. “They’re able to really explore the breadth of the vertebrate tree, whereas before they were limited to the ends.”

The micro-CT produces scans by detecting differences in density. It can also be used to scan things other than vertebrates, such as invertebrates, plants and rocks. The small machine can capture more detail through higher resolution images than a large CT scanner, with the capability to capture scans less than a micron in width. Scans are stacked to create a 3D rendering, which can be converted to the file type necessary to be sent through the 3D printer.

Introductory biology classes will also get exposure to the new technology, but students will have to take upper-level courses to get hands-on experience running the equipment. Undergrads and faculty members will utilize the instrumentation for their research projects, and a new class has also been proposed: Biological Design and Function. If approved, students could take scans of organisms and morph them, studying form and function to see if internal systems could be improved with modifications. Basically, students could design their own organism.

The students in Bird’s class will operate the machine themselves, something not many universities provide the opportunity to do. The University of Iowa and Iowa State both have micro-CTs, but they aren’t in the biology department, and students often don’t get to have hands-on experience with them. UNI students in Bird’s class will run

the machine by themselves, convert the files and learn how to use the 3D printer, too. It’s resume-building experience coupled with industry-level technology that will get noticed on applications to post-collegiate programs like veterinary, dental, physical therapy and medical schools. “We’re really preparing our students for the next step, giving them a leg up,” Bird said. “It gives them talking points and makes them stand out among applicants.”

The micro-CT was built in Germany and included some add-ons to make it optimized for the university setting. A carousel will allow many specimens to be added at the same time and be scanned one after the other, and a posing module will let students better capture the scans they want. An old dark room was converted to house the micro-CT, 3D printer and computers together conveniently in the same area. “I’m really excited because no one within vertebrate anatomy is doing anything like this. It really puts UNI students at the next level in terms of competing, with that experience they’ll be getting,” said Bird.

Above: Grad student MJ Lashbrook loads an animal skull into the micro-CT.

Right top: The 3D printer is prepped for printing by undergrad Casey Brown.

Right lower: A specimen of Sewellia is prepared for scanning.

LEARNING

TOGETHER

A partnership between UNI and the YWCA breaks down language barriers

What if you couldn’t describe your symptoms to a doctor, communicate with your child’s teacher or order the food you want at the meat counter?

A collaboration between UNI and the YWCA of Black Hawk County is tackling language barriers and providing assistance for people who are learning a second language. UNI students head to the YWCA two evenings a week to work with participants seeking to improve their English.

The free program offers no-cost transportation and child care, and anyone can show up to the informal but inclusive setting. On average, 40 to 50 UNI students from three classes — Advanced Conversation and Reading in Spanish, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Latinos in the U.S. — speak with 30 to 40 adults each week. Students have helped their eager learners with everything from reading maps and bus routes to going to the library and the courthouse and navigating social services.

Participants in the YWCA program come from a variety of backgrounds, and the mix is constantly changing. While Spanish was the most prevalent native language when the collaboration began in 2014, many participants now come from locations such as Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Central America and Croatia and speak French, Portuguese and native tribal languages, among others.

The result is that many of the UNI student volunteers are not fluent in the language of their partner. This presents a challenge, yet helps them learn the nuances of nonverbal communication and other coping strategies when the words aren’t there — useful skills for those who plan on teaching languages after graduation.

“Becoming proficient in a second language is not just learning the grammar and learning the vocabulary,” said Jennifer Cooley, professor of Spanish who has

Students working directly with clients at the YWCA.

Students choose to engage in the program by signing up for one of the participating courses that includes community-based learning elements.

spearheaded the collaboration along with others. “It’s also learning nonverbal cues, it’s learning how to sit back and listen, and be able to ask the question three different ways. There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle when you’re trying to learn another language.”

Students rotate partners for each class, so they get to experience multiple languages and varying levels of English fluency. They also use textbooks and picture dictionaries to communicate and learn how to cross the gap between different languages.

“The idea of trying to tackle these really challenging situations and not being able to do it in your first language has proved to be very valuable for all the learners involved,” said Cooley.

The language classes also facilitate cross-cultural experiences. Students have shared fabrics and food from their home countries with each other and shown off their skills at a talent show. A rummage sale allowed learners to practice negotiating with money and discuss buying clothes.

As part of their coursework, some UNI students have the chance to plan a lesson for the evening program. They practice teaching it in Spanish to classmates to discover any potential challenges before giving the lesson in English to the YWCA participants.

The original UNI/YWCA language partnership began as an independent study. Students researched what language assistance was needed locally through interviews with management at YWCA and community feedback. After finding an unmet need among Spanish speakers, students produced translated documents like school registration and immigration forms to help them.

The project evolved into a more formal collaboration in 2015. “There were lots of Spanish-speaking people coming to the Cedar Valley at that time, so it was a good fit to have UNI students serving as language partners,” said Cooley. “It was a really good setup to get people in these very parallel situations where the UNI students are seeking to increase their communication skills in Spanish as a second language, and the YWCA students are seeking to improve their English language skills.”

Students have been inspired by the program to change majors or add additional languages or TESOL to their coursework. Some have decided to pursue social work or human resources after discovering a passion for helping people, while many discover the value of community engagement and plan to continue being involved after graduation.

“Students find value in it. They’re finding some intercultural skills that allow them to communicate with people from all different walks of life,” Cooley said.

Upper left: UNI students prepare a rummage sale for YWCA participants to practice negotiating, buying clothes and exchanging money. Upper right: YWCA student Alivena Noel, from Haiti, spoke at the 2018 Women of Persimmon event, in recognition of her success as a student in the program. Bottom: Collaborating professors (left to right) Elise DuBord, Caroline Ledeboer and Jennifer Cooley at the UNI Community Engagement Celebration in spring 2018, where they were recognized for their work.

BRINGING HISTORY TO LIGHT WITH SCIENCE

UNI Museum and chemistry class work together to restore mastodon tusk

The Instrumental Analysis class was designed as a way for students to understand how analytical instruments work, the proper way to use instruments, and how to perform independent research while collecting publishable results.

It’s not every day you prepare to perform an experiment on something over 100,000 years old. But for students working in the Instrumental Analysis course taught by Josh Sebree, assistant professor of chemistry, that’s just what they get to do.

Thanks to a grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust secured by the UNI Museum, Sebree’s students are involved in a three-year project studying a mastodon tusk. The class is working to discover what methods have been used to preserve the tusk, as past preservation methods were ineffective and potentially dangerous, sometimes including materials like lead-based paint, lead plaster or asbestos.

Mastodons are large elephant-like mammals that inhabited North and Central America before becoming extinct. The tusk being studied was discovered in a gravel pit near Hampton, Iowa, in 1933 and was donated to the UNI Museum the same year. It is over 11 feet long and weighs 600 pounds, although it was broken at the tip by the workmen who found it. The museum displayed the tusk in the 1960s, but it has been in storage for the last 50 years.

The goal of the project’s current phase is to remove layers of artificial materials and get down to raw tusk. Then an outside conservator will come to help with cleaning, stabilizing and preserving the piece, but first, students must determine what substances are on the tusk so they can be removed effectively and safely.

Once the artificial materials on the tusk have been removed, the next step of the study is to run new tests on the exposed raw tusk to learn more about the mastodon itself. While there are many mastodon tusks around the state, this is the first large-scale study. “People are really interested in seeing what all we’ve done, what all we’ve been able to come up with, and how that can be used to

then better understand the entire mastodon population in the state,” Sebree said.

Sebree’s class is organized such that students get to experience more aspects of a research project than just collecting data. “They have the first third of the semester to come up with a topic that pairs the chemical system that they want to look at with the correct instrumental technique [on equipment available] within the department,” Sebree explained. Students determine what they are trying to discover, and pull all of the information together into a six-page proposal. They must include a Curriculum Vitae with their background experience, which helps them to prepare these documents for use after graduation.

After their proposals are peer reviewed and approved, students spend hands-on time learning the instrument they chose. Once the instrument has been mastered, they can perform the experiment on the tusk itself. Over 20 instruments are available to choose from, including an electron microscope, a hand-held spectrometer and a portable x-ray fluorescence device. Using their results, they create a poster presentation, and some students go on to submit findings for publication in journals.

At the end of the restoration, the tusk will be put on display, but the projects related to the tusk have been broad and useful across campus. Many students in different departments are doing work focused around the tusk, including Earth Science students who are planning a visit to the quarry where the tusk was discovered. They will study the geological features to learn more about the time period and where the tusk may have originated. UNI Museum interns, anthropology students and a research librarian have all done tusk-related activities as well. “It’s really brought together a large body of the campus population,” said Sebree.

Faculty member, Josh Sebree carefully examines the mastodon tusk with his class.

SHOWCASING

“THE FORT”

Class creates short videos from documentary footage

At the oldest prison west of the Mississippi, the walls have a lot of stories. A collaboration between Humanities Iowa and filmmaker Dan Manatt shared some of those tales, as they produced a documentary about the old Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison called The Fort: 177 Years of Crime & Punishment at the Iowa State Penitentiary. UNI’s Advancing Digital Production: Video Editing class, taught by Professor Francesca Soans, played a role.

Shot over four years by different directors, there were several hundreds of hours worth of footage. The students’ task: to create video vignettes of the people and locations in the state penitentiary to be used as educational material, placed on the film’s website and screened for the public.

The Iowa State Penitentiary, nicknamed “The Fort,” was founded in 1839, seven years before Iowa became a state. It closed in 2015 when a new facility opened, which is also featured in the film. Other subjects highlighted include the riot of 1981, the escape and capture of two inmates and the fifth-longest serving offender currently in the United States.

The class started with research on mass incarceration and other prison documentaries to help understand the nuances and challenges of presenting the subject. Prison staff members, inmates and other topics were chosen as the subjects to develop in the short films. Students worked in pairs to craft the interview and location footage into a compelling package. “As they worked on individual stories,

I could see a deepening of their understanding of the issues. In addition, they learned valuable lessons about creativity in storytelling through the documentary format and through editing as they worked and re-worked their projects,” Soans said.

While there were challenges to overcome, including server space and editing software issues due to the large volume of data, the students learned a new professional editing system called Avid. They were also able to experience film editing with real-world issues, such as busy schedules, technological problems and working with a “client.”

The class screened their final cuts at the end of the semester, which resulted in 10 short story video segments used as promotional and educational material for the project. The documentary premiered last fall in Fort Madison, followed by the TV premiere in April 2018.

Soans says the project brought out the students’ creativity, innovation and commitment in crafting their stories, and educated them on a topic that many people often don’t get to see. “What made this project unique was that students were exposed to the images, stories and people of a world hidden from our eyes, the world of the prison,” said Soans.

A UNIQUE TRIBUTE

Professor has asteroid named in his honor

Thomas Hockey has been immortalized in the sky. Hockey, a University of Northern Iowa professor of astronomy, was notified in December that asteroid number 25153, also known as 1998 SY53, has been formally named “Tomhockey.” This honor is in recognition of his work on the Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (2nd Edition). Orbiting in the asteroid belt, the asteroid is located on average about 2.4 times further from the Sun than the Earth, and it takes 3.82 years to orbit the Sun. Tomhockey has an orbital eccentricity of only 0.098, similar to Mars, with a value of 0 being a perfectly circular orbit. If you want to see Hockey’s asteroid, you’ll need a very large telescope or an excursion to Latham Hall.

Hockey also received the Donald E. Osterbrock Book Prize from the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society for his work on the encyclopedia. He served as editor-in-chief for the four-volume reference work, which contains biographical sketches of astronomers spanning antiquity to the modern era. It’s 2,434 pages long and features biographies of approximately 1,850 astronomers written by 430 authors. The award was presented at the HAD meeting in Grapevine, Texas.

Kraus-Taddeo, Taylor Peterson, Breezy Scobee, Kyle Stoutenberg, Brigham Swanson, Clara Tosi and Joe Vizzini participated in making the videos.

Siobahn Morgan, Department Head, contributed to this story

The relative sizes of the orbits of the inner planets are shown along with asteroid Tomhockey.

Students Tristan Bennett, Jonathan Carpenter, Josh Comer, Marielle Gonzales-Gaiser, Jaelyn Hogue, Jack Horan, Taylor Horvatich, Laney

Earth Mars

Tomhockey

Working together to inform and educate

SHARING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

THROUGH STORYTELLING WILL BUILD FOUNDATIONS FOR POSITIVE CHANGE.

Christopher Martin has identified a problem: Science is poorly reported on in the news media. The University of Northern Iowa professor of communication studies is trying to remedy that through Science in the Media, an organization created to provide tools for journalists to tell better stories about environmental science in Iowa. Martin serves as its director.

“We wanted to figure out ways to provide sources for science reporting, and to provide data for news media to use for stories covering environmental science issues,” said Martin. The group’s website, ScienceintheMedia.org, contains information to help reporters without a science background. But Martin has gone a step beyond providing tools by working with tomorrow’s journalists.

Science in the Media and IowaWatch, a journalism nonprofit, work with Cedar Falls High School journalism instructor Brian Winkel and his students to produce original investigative reporting each year. The ongoing collaboration was featured in the Columbia Journalism Review in April.

This year, the joint project focused on pesticide exposure risk at Iowa’s public schools. Of Iowa’s 1,321 public school buildings, data showed nine out of 10 are within 2,000 feet of cropland, putting 444,558 students and teachers at risk for pesticide exposure.

Cedar Falls students took that data, compiled by Martin and graduate student Abbie Shew, and used it to conduct interviews. They turned those interviews into articles, refining them with feedback from Martin, Winkel and Lyle Muller, IowaWatch’s executive director.

Poor science reporting is a result of three main factors:

1. Budget cuts means no experienced reporters to cover the science beat.

2. Reporters and editors mistakenly think that they must include “both sides” to be fair instead of focusing on evidence.

3. Scientists may not be trained as media sources and might do a poor job linking research to questions from reporters, while industries that benefit from twisting science usually employ spokespeople for just that purpose.

It’s a unique opportunity for the high school students. “Cedar Falls has the only weekly high school newspaper in the state, so the journalism students there are prepared to write frequently and deeply because they hone their skills over and over,” said Winkel.

Besides learning about the topic at hand, the students learn the value of science reporting, in addition to teamwork, interviewing, tenacity, civic engagement and writing skills, Winkel noted. “It’s the goal of everyone to expand deep storytelling on issues of social importance to more high school students around the state,” he said.

Stories done through the Science in the Media project have been picked up by media outlets such as The Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier, the Des Moines Register, the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the Cedar Rapids Gazette and The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

While the stories inform the public about potential science-related issues, they have also brought attention to these issues among politicians with the power to bring change. Last year’s project on nitrates in local watersheds led to increased discussion among state leaders after it was published, while students were able to raise the pesticide issue with unaware legislators from both parties. “Lots of good can come out of having investigative articles about these sorts of things,” said Martin.

The project is entering the last year of a three-year project supported by the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust and is part of a larger Science in Action project with the Center for Energy & Environmental Education. Martin hopes to continue the project to teach more young journalists the value of science reporting and to produce additional in-depth stories about science issues for the people of Iowa.

Top: The most recent issue Science in the Media tackled is pesticide drift near schools.

Bottom: Graduate assistant Abbie Shew, Professor Christopher Martin and teacher Brian Winkel meet with Cedar Falls High School journalism students.

BRINGING EVERYONE TO THE TABLE

Classes in the Department of Technology construct conference table for Department of Philosophy and World Religions

Above: Students from Greenhalgh’s Capstone class pause for a photo with pieces of the table they are constructing.

“The Shakers were great woodworkers. I went into detail about their theology and its influence on their furniture making as a way to give the students a richer experience in building the table.”

– Jerry Soneson

The Shaker theology, their understanding of what was important and valuable in the world, was embodied in their woodworking practices.

Soon, if you walk into the Fox Seminar Room in Bartlett Hall, you’ll see the culmination of an interdisciplinary project spanning three different courses and representing the involvement of many on campus.

It began when Lisa Riedle, head of the technology department, sent out a request looking for projects that her Industrial Projects class could design. Jerry Soneson, head of the philosophy and world religions department, responded. Their conference room was lacking an adequate table, and he had something in mind. It needed to be large enough to fit the space, seat at least 20 people and be curved like a boat so everyone sitting at the table could see each other.

Riedle and Soneson found a construction partner in the Capstone class of Scott Greenhalgh, assistant professor of industrial technology. The class, about the relationships between technology and society, was very popular, with nearly twice the enrollment of many other Capstone classes.

To begin, a team of four in Riedle’s class researched and completed a feasibility study before moving to the design of the table. They worked with Carol Christopher, UNI interior design coordinator, to make sure the look fit in with the campus aesthetic. They also had to make sure the table could make it to the second floor conference room via the elevator or the stairway and account for equipment restraints to make sure pieces would fit in the appropriate machinery during construction.

The chosen design was in the style of the Shakers, embodying their hallmarks of clean lines, quality craftsmanship and no visible hardware. Greenhalgh suggested the Shaker style, finding their own unique American religious story an appropriate fit for the table’s destination in the Department of Philosophy and World Religions.

As it was a Capstone class made up of a variety of majors, many of the students had no experience in carpentry. They split up into teams to build the table, with team leaders who had woodworking knowledge aiding those without. Greenhalgh says that was one of his favorite parts of the project, “throwing out a challenge with some unknowns and seeing students rise to the challenge and pull it together.”

The teams worked to build the table about two hours a week outside of class time. But in class, the table was still a central theme. Soneson visited to explain some of the Shaker theology, making a connection between religion, technology and construction. “It’s not easy to connect the humanities with technology,” said Riedle. “This opportunity just fell in our lap.”

The table isn’t quite finished, but Greenhalgh’s Intro to Technology and Engineering Education class will finish it this semester. “Our department is very grateful to the Department of Technology for not only being willing to try this out, but for being very successful,” said Soneson.

A massive research project aims to improve the quality of life for people along Lake Michigan, and Alan Czarnetzki, his equipment and his students are taking part in it. Czarnetzki, a University of Northern Iowa professor of meteorology, is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency and several other universities, research institutions and staterun organizations on the Lake Michigan Ozone Study.

The study, fielded in spring 2017, gathered data to see if ozone levels can be predicted based on weather patterns, which would aid in the issuing of ozone advisories for Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities along Lake Michigan. Ozone is the main ingredient in smog and can trigger or worsen respiratory ailments. Findings might also be used to assist policymakers in creating regulations to improve air quality.

Lake Michigan creates ozone when pollutants collect along its surface due to the cooler temperature of the water. The sun’s rays break those chemicals down, and some of the resulting molecules recombine to form ozone. The sun also warms the land around the lake, creating the lake breeze that blows the ozone to the populated areas.

In addition to measuring the lake breeze, the study also measured the lake and air temperature, water vapor levels, wind conditions in the lower atmosphere, presence of volatile precursor pollutants and time of day in an attempt to figure out what elements have the most impact on the breeze. Scientists took measurements from two primary sites at Sheboygan, Wis., and Zion, Ill., but also gathered data via automobile, airplane and ship.

Czarnetzki deployed a sodar (Sonic/Sound Detection and Ranging) and a microwave radiometer to gather atmospheric data. The sodar records changes in sound waves as they travel through the air to measure wind speed and direction. It also has a ground temperate sensor that measured the cooler temperatures brought in by the lake breeze. That drop in temperature can be lined up with increased wind speed in the data to confirm arrival of the breeze. “They are two independent pieces of information, not measured by the same equipment,” said Czarnetzki.

“That’s what you’d expect, and when you see that, you feel pretty good about the quality of the observations you’re making.”

The microwave radiometer scans the atmosphere, listening to the vibration of oxygen and water molecules. The vibration is dependent on temperature, so the computer can effectively get temperature readings and water vapor concentrations from up to 10 km above ground.

Czarnetzki provided a preliminary report at the Lake Michigan Ozone Study data workshop in Chicago last September. He’s also had students using the data as part of their undergraduate research projects. The next step is to write research papers after continuing to untangle the relationships discovered in the data.

“Something that was interesting was to see the variability in the lake breeze,” Czarnetzki said, noting both the arrival time and the depth of the breeze were not consistent. “I think the sodar in particular uniquely showed that, of all the instrumentation that was deployed for this project. I feel it’s making a pretty important contribution to the whole project.”

Above: The microwave radiometer (left) and sodar (right) are set up in Zion, Ill. and ready to take measurements related to the breeze coming off of Lake Michigan.

Right: A map showing different components of the study completed by a group of many different agencies.

WRITING FOR ANYWHERE FROM ANYWHERE

Tracy Freese provides marketing services for businesses all over the world

The Professional Writing program draws a variety of students.

“I’m teaching a class where English, Criminology, Supply Chain Management, and Accounting majors are sitting next to each other.”

- Adrienne Lamberti

Tracy Freese knows what she’s writing about. Her company, Strong Estate, provides commercial copywriting and photography services for customers all over the globe. And while her office is in downtown Cedar Falls, most of her employees are not.

Freese has organized her business to embrace the digital nomad lifestyle. Many of her employees can work from wherever they are, especially the writers. “We work remotely. Most everything we do is able to be done anywhere, any time,” says Freese. It works out well for her staff, the majority of whom are UNI students or alumni.

Freese is an alumna of UNI herself, completing her M.A. in organizational communication here. It’s helped her to understand the type of culture she wants to have at Strong Estate: relaxed, with no dress codes or set schedules. She utilizes tools such as Google Suites, video conferencing and document sharing to keep workers, remote or not, on the same page.

Adrienne Lamberti, associate professor of English, provides Freese with a good supply of interns from the Professional Writing program at UNI. The

focus of the program is to study how people communicate and interact with each other in the workplace and the impact of those communication decisions.

Students in the courses, which can be part of a declared Professional Writing minor or taken individually, work on actual client projects to produce or edit workplace communications.

Their clients represent a variety of organizations from local to international and both for-profit and non-profit. “It’s a handson, ‘real world’ community engagement experience. That can be intimidating for some students, but they come out of the projects with incredible knowledge and networking opportunities,” said Lamberti.

That practical experience for the students means they’re ready to work, and Freese takes advantage.

The writers at Strong Estate can cover any topic and any project, from website copy to white papers and press releases to business pitches. As for the photography side of the business, Amazon sellers make up a large portion of her clients. Freese has found a high demand for lifestyle images with real-world models provided at an affordable price. They also shoot short videos of people interacting with the products.

Freese’s customers, located all over the world, find Strong Estate through online marketplaces like fiverr.com. She says her Iowa location is a benefit; people trust Iowans, and American English is the most desired language for writing because Americans are the ones doing all the buying. Some United Kingdom sellers will send over copy to be edited to American English.

Lamberti thinks the partnership between the Professional Writing program and Strong Estate seems to be working well, adding that in the past three years, eight Professional Writing students have moved on to work at Strong Estate. Freese appreciates the good work ethic and professionalism that comes from her UNI students. “UNI provides us with a really great funnel of talent,” Freese said.

Tracy Freese, owner of Strong Estate.

HEALING

MOTHER EARTH

Working to restore wetlands and protect vulnerable plant life

Across the country, wetlands are in danger. Factors such as changes in upstream watersheds, an increase in pollutants, invasive plant species and loss of natural processes like wildfires have all contributed to the decline of these valuable environments. Alumna Amy Husveth looks to reverse some of that damage. “Restoration implementation is always a worthy endeavor, especially when compared to the ‘do-nothing’ approach, which guarantees the continued loss of ecological functions,” Amy said.

Amy works at Critical Connections Ecological Services (CCES) in Minnesota with her husband, Jason. CCES is a natural resource and ecological restoration consulting firm, providing services such as restoration and management planning, natural resource inventory, wetland delineation and permitting, agricultural planning, wetland banking services, land reclamation and rare species surveys. CCES’s clients include cities, the State of Minnesota, residential developers, mining companies and private landowners.

Jason was inspired to start the business after discovering the endangered species Xyris torta (twisted yellow-eyed grass), in a degraded wetland in central Minnesota in 1997. Thought to have been eradicated from the state, Xyris torta hadn’t been seen there since the 1960s. He began to experiment with unique wetland restoration methods and learned to restore degraded wetlands to diverse wet meadows with more than 150 native wetland plants, without using herbicide or supplemental seeding.

Some of the wetlands CCES restores become wetland mitigation bank sites. Banked wetland credits are used or sold by their clients to replace unavoidable wetland

impacts resulting from development or construction projects, as required by state law. Restored wetlands that have been banked have a perpetual easement over them to protect the areas from future development.

Many of the wetlands CCES works with are part of the Anoka Sand Plain, a unique ecological landform in Central Minnesota formed by glacial lakes. They are distinct wetlands and host to a variety of plants not found elsewhere in the state; in these areas there are over twenty plant species listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern in Minnesota. Through their survey work, CCES has detected many of these rare plant species, and they’ve even documented a few plant species not previously known to occur in the state’s flora.

Amy’s interest in environmental restoration was inspired by one of Laura Jackson’s courses in applied ecology at UNI. Amy also worked at the Tallgrass Prairie Center, volunteered in the herpetology lab and was a summer undergraduate research assistant during her time here. “Through these opportunities, I gained hands-on and very practical experience in the field of my chosen career and met many professionals who helped to guide me on my path,” said Amy.

After completing her bachelor’s degree in ecology in 2004, she continued on to get her Master of Science degree at UNI. Her graduate work focused on researching methods for enhancing wildflower diversity, which she applies to her job at CCES.

Amy’s favorite part of being a restoration ecologist is the continued opportunity to challenge herself through solving complex environmental and regulatory challenges. “I greatly enjoy doing my part to restore diverse wetland habitat in Minnesota and doing my part to leave this land better than I found it,” Amy said.

Above: Xyris torta (twisted yellow-eyed grass), an endangered species in Minnesota.

Left: Husveth doing plant survey work.

Photos on this spread and the wetland photo on page 3 are courtesy of CCES.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Department of Computer Sciences launches new program

The Department of Computer Science was awarded a two-year grant for $300,000 from the National Science Foundation. Three associate professors of computer science, Sarah Diesburg, Philip East and Ben Schafer, submitted the proposal, securing the biggest NSF grant in department history. It will fund UNI’s K-12 computer science education curriculum project and will help computer science educators with professional development.

Graduate student creates original theatre production

Milica Njezic, a graduate student, wrote and directed an original theatre work, “Live Thy Neighbor.” The show is a series of poetic episodes that explores what it means to be a neighbor in times of crisis. Njezic’s work debuted in March, with three performances put on by UNI’s Interpreters Theatre.

SERTOMA lab passes silver anniversary

The SERTOMA Research Laboratory, a space dedicated to the advanced study of communicative disorders, recently wrapped up its 25th year of operation. The lab was completed in 1992 after SERTOMA clubs across the state raised money for its creation. Three projects are ongoing in the lab: Evette Edmister’s research into alternative communications, Lisa Kopf’s work on vocal health and Laura Pitts’ exploration of swallowing.

Writing Conference to mark 50 Years at UNI

The North American Review (NAR) will celebrate 50 years at UNI with a writing conference on campus from April 19-21. Writers, teachers and scholars from around the country will be invited to share their work and participate in writing workshops.

The conference will be include a keynote speech by NAR contributing editor

Terry Tempest Williams, whose book “The Open Space of Democracy” will be the focus of the spring issue of NAR and a Provost’s Common Read. Proposals for presentations are currently being accepted from students and community members at northamericanreview.submittable.com/submit.

Women’s Chorus marks 130th anniversary with reunion

The Women’s Chorus invites alumnae to a weekend of celebration as the ensemble enters its 130th year. An informal gathering is set for 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12 at SingleSpeed Brewery in Waterloo. Tours of the music facilities will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13 in Russell Hall, while alumnae rehearsal begins at 11 a.m. The performance will be at 4 p.m. in GBPAC’s Great Hall. A reception and banquet will follow. Register at music.uni.edu/womens-chorus-reunion-registration.

Two programs named to national lists

UNI’s TESOL program was ranked No. 6 on BestColleges.com’s list of best online master’s programs in English language learning. The program also made the top ten in 2017.

BestColleges.com also ranked UNI’s online master’s program in secondary education as one of the best in the nation, coming in at 15th. Rankings are based on academic quality, affordability and online programming offerings.

Special theatre production inspired by moon landing

Gretta Berghammer, professor of theatre, is developing “To Touch the Moon,” a first-of-its-kind immersive theatre production for youth on the spectrum. Its debut will coincide with next year’s 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Immersion theatre blurs the line between actor and audience; participants are characters in the action from the start.

Berghammer; Mark Parrott, associate professor of theatre; Marcy Seavey, UNI STEM coordinator; and two science education students spent three days at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to conduct research for the show.

Alumna speaks at science education conference

Aileen Sullivan, a UNI graduate, gave the keynote speech at the 2018 UNI Science Education Update in April. Sullivan, a chemistry educator at Ames High since 1996, was named 2018 Teacher of the Year by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. The conference shared the latest teaching methods and research with educators from across the state.

Student wins national award for short film

Tarrell Christie, a digital media production major, won an Award of Excellence (Honorable Mention) at the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts for The Spaceman. The short film is about a young African American astronaut who goes on a volunteer mission into a mysterious wormhole.

The festival is a national showcase for student and faculty work. It provides a venue for exhibition of winning submissions, including recognition of project authors, through showcase and awards sessions held during BEA’s annual convention in Las Vegas. See the film at https://thespacemanshortfilm.weebly.com/

Alumna earns presidential teaching award

Ashley Flatebo, an elementary and middle-level education graduate, was named a 2018 recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. She has taught for 13 years in Mason City, where she is currently an instructional coach and involved with FIRST LEGO League, robotics tournaments and STEAM festivals.

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching are the highest honors bestowed by the United States government specifically for K-12 mathematics and science (including computer science) teaching. Each recipient receives a certificate signed by the President of the United States and a $10,000 award.

Open house honors Wright Hall’s 100th birthday

A celebration of Wright Hall and David Sands Wright was held last fall. Historical pictures and artifacts from the archives were on display, as were tools used throughout history in math education. Several lectures throughout the fall also focused on Wright and Wright Hall.

The Iowa General Assembly authorized the construction of the Vocational Building, now Wright Hall, in 1913. Construction began in 1915 and was completed in 1917 for $109,566. The building was renamed in 1957 to honor Wright, who taught math at the Iowa State Normal School from its founding in 1876 until 1916. Wright Hall was renovated in 1949-50 and 1990-91 and currently houses the Department of Mathematics.

UNI, U of I join forces on research project

Ali Tabei, assistant professor of physics, and research student Joseph Tibbs spent the summer conducting research with Maria Spies, a biochemistry professor at the University of Iowa. The collaboration is part of Carver College of Medicine’s FUTURE in Biomedicine program.

Tabei and Tibbs used their knowledge of physical systems to help improve data processing software used by Spies to investigate proteins that repair DNA. This type of interdisciplinary collaboration can result in unexpected breakthroughs and gave Tibbs invaluable experience working in a research lab. Tabei and Tibbs continue their work on code that will be used to improve single-molecule research studies across the country.

MAKING (SOUND) WAVES AT NASA

Alumnus starts job working in vehicle flight acoustics

Alumnus Matthew Boucher ’04 has long balanced interests in music and science, a background that is helping him at his new job at NASA. As an undergrad student at UNI, he double-majored in both music and physics. Boucher says that his interest in both subjects was encouraged by all of his professors. “Having the support to follow my passions in different areas validated my curiosity and made it okay to try new things that might be outside my comfort zone,” Boucher said.

After UNI, he went to Indiana University Bloomington and received his Master of Music in Tuba Performance, which he’s been playing since he started on the baritone tuba in fourth grade. That degree led him to work as a craftsman of musical instruments at S.E. Shires, Co., where his tasks included building custom parts for trombones. “Solving some of those unique technical problems helped me learn how to come up with creative solutions, a skill that I applied to my research,” said Boucher.

With a desire to go back to school and study acoustical engineering, Boucher found a program that fit his needs overseas. He traveled to France to the University of Le Mans to earn his Master of Science degree in Acoustics Research. While there, he assisted with research on acoustic waveguides (a structure that guides sound waves), investigating techniques to predict and calculate their internal geometry and acoustic resistance. As a trombone can be considered a waveguide, Boucher was again combining elements of music with his passion for science.

After spending two years in France, he received a Marie Curie fellowship to do acoustics research at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. His work there involved the study of acoustics in smaller interior rooms and whether methods used in predicting the acoustics of larger spaces can be applied to areas like offices and classrooms. At the completion of his studies, he earned his doctorate in Noise and Vibration.

Now, Boucher is putting all of his previous research to work as a Research Aerospace Technologist (AST) in Flight Vehicle Acoustics at NASA.

His main task at NASA is to better understand how we process and perceive sounds by doing laboratory listening tests. One of his team’s goals is to determine annoyance levels that can help regulators set reasonable certification standards for flight vehicles. “It is really exciting to be working at NASA Langley Research Center, which is actually the birthplace of NASA over 100 years ago. It is amazing to be surrounded by pieces of history, but the coolest part is working with caring people who just happen to be really intelligent,” Boucher said.

While his most recent endeavors have been leaning more in the scientific realm, music is always a part of his life, too. He played in musical groups in both France and Belgium, but is taking a short break as his tubas are still making it through customs. He hopes to find a group to play with in Virginia when he’s reunited with his instruments.

CREATIVITY ON STAGE

Alumna Angie Toomsen named artistic director of Theatre Cedar Rapids.

As a child, Angie Toomsen attended plays at Theatre Cedar Rapids (TCR). In fact, she credits two shows, Romeo and Juliet at TCR and Company, a summer performance at UNI, with sparking her curiosity about acting at a young age. Little did she know that she would later earn her theatre performance degree from UNI and eventually become a creative lead at TCR.

Toomsen was named artistic director at the beginning of this year, after TCR conducted a nationwide search with 100 candidates. In her role, she oversees programming and finds directors, designers, music directors, choreographers and other positions for each show. She works closely with other departments to make sure each production is a success, including making sure the production department has enough manpower to build the sets and helping volunteer engagement to see that community members are lined up to help. She also directs a few shows a year. “Whether I am directing or not, I consider myself responsible for the quality of each production, so I stay involved to support each team as much as I can,” Toomsen said.

In her undergraduate studies at UNI, Toomsen focused on acting, but her directing, play analysis and aesthetics classes opened her eyes to the world of directing. After graduating in 1995, she headed to New York City to train at the Circle in the Square studio. She says she was constantly at the theatre there, whether it was Broadway, off-Broadway, performance art or something else,

gathering experience to help shape her as a director. But she still falls back on the initial instruction she received at UNI. “The fundamentals of acting I learned at UNI remain the foundation for me, even though my perspectives have evolved and changed, and I have studied new and different techniques over the years,” said Toomsen.

After returning to Iowa, Toomsen became very active in the performing arts community, directing shows at the Riverside Theatre, Old Creamery, Theatre Cedar Rapids and Strayer-Wood Theatre, among others. During her directing work on August: Osage County at UNI, she worked with Matthew Weedman, assistant professor in the department of theatre. Since then, he has helped with coaching on several TCR shows and directed a production there earlier this year. “I hope to bring Matt and other Theatre UNI professors to TCR to share their knowledge and experience with our performers. I have been fortunate to stay connected to the program at UNI and plan to continue building a bridge between our programs when I can,” Toomsen said.

Toomsen has won awards for her directing and is looking forward to the upcoming season at TCR. They are kicking off their 85th season with a revitalized take on the classic musical, My Fair Lady, followed by a mix of shows including Hunchback, Elf the Musical, Newsies, Shakespeare in Love and more.

STANDING UP for

HUMAN RIGHTS

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education fights injustice with knowledge

Gaies speaking in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Des Moines on March 23, 2018, at a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the letter written by Archbishop Damaskinos protesting the Nazi deportation of Jews from Greece—the sole case in which the leader of a religion spoke out against Nazi persecution and murder.

Stephen Gaies wasn’t planning to lead the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education (CHGE) at UNI, but the idea of creating a permanent center was far from the minds of any of the original ad hoc committee members whose initial goal was to organize a lecture series on the Holocaust. That original idea of a lecture series quickly evolved into a three-semester program of events, and the work of the committee led to the establishment of the CHGE in September 2010.

“It was almost four years of work and a lot of programming on campus that basically led to and provided evidence for the need for the center,” said Gaies, director. “We could point to the terrific turnout we got for our different events, the level of interest in what we were doing, the collaboration of departments, colleges and other offices across campus, and the number of students who were served directly or indirectly.”

The CHGE aims to increase knowledge about the Holocaust and other genocides and to strengthen the commitment to confront threats to human rights, including intolerance, antisemitism and racism. It also prepares K-12 teachers to include these issues in their lesson plans. To do this, the CHGE organizes traveling exhibits and educational programming, including lecture series, art exhibits, musical performances, film screenings and teacher workshops, often held in collaboration with local groups like the Grout Museum, the Hearst Center for the Arts and the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony. The center is also an educational outreach partner of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, with informal connections and collaborations with many other centers and other institutions across the state and country.

Recent projects include a traveling exhibit on the role of doctors and nurses as rescuers in humanitarian crises around the world, which has been in Des Moines, Waterloo and Memphis, Tenn., and is heading to North Dakota, Illinois and Indiana. In partnership with the Hearst Center for the Arts, the CHGE will commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the rescue of Jews in Denmark with a photo exhibit, a guest speaker, a film series and a book reading group in October and November.

Gaies doesn’t see the need for the center diminishing; on the contrary, he finds it more important than ever. “No one could have predicted the relevance and urgency of the issues that we deal with—the rise of authoritarianism around the world, growing dangers of global warming, inequitable distribution of resources, increasing power of corporate entities, plus the growth of social injustice, identity politics, nationalism and tribalism—all of these things are like a lethal mix that put human rights at greater and greater peril,” said Gaies.

The CHGE depends on gifts and grants for much of its programming and other activities. A gift from UNI alumnus Norman Cohn and his family to fund an annual lecture series has long been the anchor of the CHGE’s programming, and other generous gifts have funded traveling exhibits and an annual film series, in addition to many other events. In April 2019, the CHGE will organize a Holocaust remembrance ceremony for the 13th consecutive year.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM A WIN-WIN

Students assist faculty with research work for ten weeks over the summer

Dexter Cox, a student majoring in chemistry and physics, spent his summer a little differently than most of his peers. He spent ten weeks in a laboratory trying to make something that’s 99.9% air.

As part of the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), Cox worked with Tim Kidd, professor of physics, to study the influence of sonication parameters on the morphology of nanocellulose aerogels. Basically, they used an ultrasonicator – a machine with a metal probe made out of titanium alloy tank armor – to break up plant fiber molecules into tiny pieces called nanocellulose. Nanocellulose has many varied applications, such as body armor, fruit protectant and oil absorber.

For students, SURP gives them an opportunity to gain experience doing research. Participants in the program assist faculty with laboratory or field research and receive a stipend and course credit for their efforts. Cox’s work this summer focused on optimizing the process of making the nanocellulose by minimizing the time it takes to complete. He was successful in reducing the time required by a factor of three, using automation techniques.

Out in the field, Ai Wen, instructor in the biology department, joined with other professors to study prairies in the Conservation Reserve Program’s Pollinator Enhancement Plantings. They determined how effective the areas are by doing plant and pollinator surveys. She says that the SURP program not only helps to build resumes for students, but it’s helpful for the professors, too. With many different survey sites requiring multiple visits throughout the season, their project might not be possible without the extra manpower. “SURP students

help to increase the number of sites and the intensity of survey frequency, and that makes the data a lot more valuable,” said Wen.

While the process varies between departments, there are research opportunities in the biology, chemistry and biochemistry, computer science, Earth and environmental sciences, math and physics departments. This summer, 38 students took part in the program and studied things like cattails, atmospheric haze, data retrieval, watershed delineation, unbalanced sets, the Cedar River and the compound a,a’bis(4-aminopyridine)-p-xylene.

Funding for the research projects comes from various sources, including grants, private gifts, industrial partners, federal work study and internal funding through CHAS departments. Faculty members select which student will work with them on their projects.

At the completion of the ten weeks, there is a research symposium for participants to be recognized and share their work through posters.

“The Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium is a nice way to wrap up the program and see what work has been done by all the different departments,” said Laura Strauss, professor and head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Strauss organizes the symposium and manages the summer program in her department.

For the students participating in SURP, there’s no slacking during the summer. “From the beginning, learning about the process of how nanocellulose aerogels are created and how to work the equipment, to the end when I presented my research ... it seemed like everyday I would learn something new,” said Cox.

Above: Nanocellulose aerogel cross-sections, from 90% air at the top to 99.8% air at the bottom, showing the transition from plate-like structures to fiber-like.

Right: Students trek through the prairie during a vegitation survey.

NEW FACULTY

Justin Mertz is now the associate director of bands in the School of Music. Prior to his appointment at UNI, he was assistant director of bands and director of athletic bands at Syracuse University.

Benjamin Baker, Ph.D., has joined the Department of Communication Studies as an assistant professor. He completed his doctorate in communication at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee.

Lisa Kopf, Ph.D., joins the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders as an assistant professor. She was previously a professor at Michigan State University, where she received her doctorate.

Yasemin Sari, Ph.D., has joined the Department of Philosophy and World Religions as an assistant professor. She previously taught at the University of Alberta, where she received her doctorate.

Kelly Strong, Ph.D., has been named an associate professor in the Department of Technology’s construction management program. He comes to UNI from Colorado State University.

Pamela Hartman was named an instructor in Science Education. She was previously an adjunct professor at UNI, where she earned her master’s degree in science education.

Amy Osatinski, Ph.D., is an assistant professor and faculty director in the Department of Theatre. She has a doctorate from the University of Colorado Boulder and extensive experience as a performer and director.

Jimin Kahng, Ph.D., is a new assistant professor of TESOL in the Department of Languages and Literatures. She received her doctorate at Michigan State University and previously taught at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.

Kimberly Conner, Ph.D., has joined the Department of Mathematics as an assistant professor. She completed her doctorate at the University of Missouri.

Ross Winter, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of violin in the School of Music. He completed his doctorate at the Catholic University of America and actively performs with the Richmond (Va.) Symphony and the IRIS Orchestra (Tenn.).

Jim Bray has been named an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre. He has a master’s degree in theatre from Kent State University.

Sade Barfield is an instructor and the director of individual events in the Department of Communication Studies. She received her master’s degree from UNI.

Justin Peters, Ph.D., joins the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as an assistant professor of biochemistry. He received his doctorate from the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Science, where he recently completed a fellowship.

Mike Conrad, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of jazz studies/music education in the School of Music. He earned his doctorate at the University of Northern Colorado and was previously the head band director at West High School in Waterloo.

Joshua Gordon, Ph.D., is a new assistant professor in TESOL and Applied Linguistics for the Department of Languages and Literatures. He has a doctorate from Indiana University, Bloomington, and was previously a university professor in Costa Rica.

Jeffrey Funderburk, Ph.D., a professor of tuba/euphonium, was named the director of the School of the Music. He received his doctorate from the University of Illinois and has been teaching at UNI since 1987.

Alumni updates from across the nation

CLASS NOTES

1950s - 1970s

‘51 Bill Page BA, Muskegon, Mich., celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary and 90th birthday. After retiring from a long career in education he is enjoying serving his community and promoting activities that support integration of different ethnicities.

‘55 Laurens Blankers BA, Owatonna, Minn., moved to Nashville, Tennessee in July 2017 and has been enjoying expanding his participation in churches.

‘58 Marilyn (Schabacker) Schroeder, BA, Dyersville, Iowa, retired from a career in school education in Iowa and Illinois and in 2017 organized an indivisible group in Jackson County to empower Iowans politically.

‘63 Joanne (Ervin) Miller Hill, BA, MA ‘66, Olympia, Wash., retired after teaching English/AP for 30 years and moved from Sarasota, Florida to Olympia. She and her husband, Mel, volunteer together serving the area’s homeless and hungry population.

‘65 Michael Hogan, BA, Columbus, Ohio, published a book titled The Afterlife of John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Biography.

‘68 MaryAnn (Marsh) Smith, BA, MA ‘71, Princeton, Ill., is enjoying retirement by volunteering, visiting grandchildren and traveling. A highlight in 2017 was a three week tour of China.

‘73 Mark Bolson, BA, Thornton, Colo., stays busy with the Denver Elks Lodge and the Colorado Elks Association.

‘75 David Poggenklass BA, Guttenberg, Iowa, retired in 2008 after 33 years teaching elementary and junior high vocal music. He entertains at more than 30 care centers each month and enjoys fishing,

golf and his grandchildren. He also still substitute teaches.

‘78 Debbie Yerkes, BA, Columbia, S.C., retired from the University of South California after 37.5 years as an assistant documents librarian.

‘79 Larry Smith, BA, Anchorage, Alaska, is chief geophysicist with Brooks Range Petroleum.

1980s

‘80 JoDee Davis, BM, MM, Kansas City, Mo., was promoted to full professor at the University of Missouri Kansas City in 2018. In 2017, she was awarded a University of Missouri Research Board grant to make a recording of new music for trombone and piano. The recording will include works by Jennifer Higdon, Victoria Bond and Paul Rudy. Anticipated completion is 2019.

‘81 Jeffrey Hellmer, BM, Austin, Texas, is director of jazz studies and serves as the associate director of the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. He led the UT Jazz Orchestra on a 2017 European tour that included performances at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals. He was awarded the Flawn Regents Professorship in Piano.

‘81 Gary Schwartzhoff, MM, Eau Claire, Wis., marked his 44th year as a music educator. He has been active throughout his professional career in the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and Intercollegiate Male Choruses (IMC). In 2018, Schwartzhoff will be presented the Marshall Bartholomew Award by IMC in Washington D.C. In 2019, Schwartzhoff will conduct the 75th Anniversary of D-Day and the Liberation of France Choral Festival in Paris, France.

‘83 Jody (Williams) Bintz, BA, MA ‘94, Council Bluffs, Iowa, is the associate director for strategic partnerships and professional learning with BSCS Science Learning.

‘84 Tony Burns, BA, MA ‘90, Cedar Falls, Iowa, is in his 34th year teaching physics and geology at Waterloo Schools. In addition, he is an Academy Career Coordinator, which involves arranging job shadows and speakers and supporting the Waterloo Career Center.

‘85 James Chance BM, Zearing, Iowa, was elected president of United Auto Workers Local 893 in Marshalltown.

‘85 Ruth Watkins, BA, Salt Lake City, Utah, was named president of the University of Utah.

‘86 Monique Walker, BA, Washington, D.C., is properties director for Arena Stage.

‘89 Kim (Ploeger) Buelt, BA, MA ‘93, Robins, Iowa, taught earth science and chemistry at Linn Mar High School for 18 years and is now in her 11th year as associate principal.

1990s

‘90 Lori (Binkley) Wilson, BM, West Burlington, Iowa, is artist in residence and adjunct faculty of voice at Southeastern Community College.

‘91 James Hoelscher, BA, MPP, Cedar Falls, Iowa, was elected to a three-year term on the board of the Professional Developers of Iowa.

‘91 Elaine Houska, BA, Chester, Va., is a physical therapist and became engaged June 4, 2017.

‘92 Gaylen Hiesterman, BS, Cedar Falls, Iowa, enjoyed a family vacation of hiking, kayaking and wildlife viewing in the Glacier National Park last summer.

‘92 Brian Hughes, BM, MM ‘93, Dubuque, Iowa, received the 2017 American Prize in Wind Conducting in recognition of his work with the Quad City Wind Ensemble.

‘92 De Anna (Hinz) Tibben, BA, MA ‘94, Marshalltown, Iowa, is an instructional coach with the Ames Community School District. She enjoys supporting student learning by helping teachers develop lessons and learning opportunities.

‘93 Bradley Block, BA, Custer, S.D., entered into his ninth year at Jewel Cave National Monument and is currently the chief of interpretation. He also was reelected to the board of directors for the National Association of Interpretation.

‘94 Cindy (Chatfield) Freiberg, BA, Faribault, Minn., is the national accounts estimator with Gemini Inc.

‘94 J C Sanford, BA, Northfield, Minn., received a 2018 McKnight Fellowship for Composers, which acknowledges excellence in music composition and includes a $25,000 award from the McKnight Foundation.

‘95 Stacy (Kraciun) Brooks, BA, Dunlap, Ill., is an English teacher and head speech coach at Dunlap High School.

‘96 Jim Harken, BA, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the Region 10 extension education director for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, which serves Benton, Jones and Linn Counties.

‘96 Aileen (Mahood) Sullivan, BA, Ames, Iowa, was named 2018 Iowa Teacher of the Year.

‘96 John Sutter BA, Asbury, Iowa, completed the Ironman triathlon in Madison, Wis. on Sept. 10, 2017. He completed the race in 14 hours, 27 minutes and 29 seconds.

‘96 Terri Wiley, BA, Portland, Ore., is the grants coordinator with The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families. The center is regarded as a leader in the field of childhood bereavement.

‘97 Benjamin Newton, BA, Grand Island, Neb., is the environmental sustainability director at Central Community College.

‘97 Angie Toomsen, BA, Iowa City, Iowa, was named artistic director at Theatre Cedar Rapids.

‘99 Doug Kilburg, MA, BA , Washington, D.C., is a mathematical statistician for the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. He plans to enroll in the joint program in survey methodology at the University of Maryland, studying statistical

theories in connection with social and psychological theories in order to better conduct surveys.

‘99 Mary (Noga) Theilen BA, Columbus, Wis., was promoted to personal lines president with American Family Insurance, which is the company’s largest division.

2000s

‘00 Angela (Weepie) Schmitt, BA, Oelwein, Iowa, enjoyed a great year of astrophotography including the total eclipse in Aug. 2017 and a trip to Utah national parks for meteor showers, planetary conjunctions, Milky Way shots, moon rises, and the total lunar eclipse in Jan. 2018.

‘01 Jill (Brees) Barr, BA, Spencer, Iowa, was crowned Mrs. Iowa America 2017 in June and represented the state at the national competition in Las Vegas in August.

‘01 Suzanne (Hendrix) Hendrix Case, BM, MM ‘06, Sioux City, Iowa, won second prize in the 2017 Gerda Lissner Competition and first place in the Wagner Society of New York Competition. She also sang in Eugene Onegin at the Hawaii Opera Theatre and L’italiana in Algeri at the Santa Fe Opera.

‘02 Joshua Dean, BA, Greene, Iowa, was named the 2018 Iowa Alternative Teacher of the Year by the Iowa Association of Alternative Education.

CLASS NOTES

‘02 Alan Greiner, MM, Jefferson, Iowa, received the National Federation of State High School Association’s Citation Award, which is one of the most highly regarded achievements in athletics and performing arts. Alan is currently the executive director of the Iowa High School Music Association.

‘02 Nick Pfeiffer, BA, Tiffin, Iowa, was named the director of marketing and communications for the Iowa City/Coralville Convention & Visitors Bureau. He also serves as the club leader for the Corridor Alumni Club.

‘02 Amber (Seemann) Youngblut, BA, MBA ‘05, Jesup, Iowa, was promoted to vice president of human resources at Geater Machining and Manufacturing, Co.

‘03 Jason Danielson BA, BA ‘05, Ankeny, Iowa, is a teacher in the Des Moines Public School system. Recently, he has performed with Aretha Franklin and Dick Oatts, and received a certificate of recognition from the Des Moines Community Jazz Center.

‘03 Nathan Dishman, BM, Huxley, Iowa, has been named Assistant Professor of Trombone at Iowa State University, where he will begin in Fall 2018. He comes to ISU from Morehead State University in Kentucky.

‘03 Brandy (Mefferd) Netty, BA, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is an associate professor of mathematics at Kirkwood Community College.

‘03 Ryan Scott BA, Dubuque, Iowa, is president of Scott Theatre Laboratory, a professional theatre company. He is currently creating a piece for the Song Revue form on the subject of recovery from mental illness combined with a classic method of cursive handwriting.

‘03 Pema Yangchen, MA, EdD ‘09, was appointed by the Tibetan Parliament as a Kalon of the 15th Kashag. The parliament operates in exile and is based in Dharamshala, India.

‘04 Ben Byersdorfer, BM, Cedar Falls, Iowa, received a 2018 Cedar Valley Gold Star Award. He is currently a 7th-9th grade band teacher at Peet Junior High School.

‘04 Jenny Heinz, BA, Bowling Green, Ohio, is an assistant athletic director with Bowling Green State University.

‘05 Eliza Bangert, BM, Chicago, Ill., won the second flute position with the South Bend Symphony and became a performing member of the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. She continues to perform as piccolo player for Southwest Michigan Symphony and serves as librarian at Illinois Philharmonic and Grant Park Symphony.

‘05 Joel Nelson, BA, Council Bluffs, Iowa, was named teacher of the year by the Council Bluffs Community School District. He is currently a math teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School.

‘06 Jennifer (Engelkes) Wittenburg, BA, Cedar Falls, Iowa, is the program manager of the Iowa Air Emissions Assistance Program with the Iowa Waste Reduction Center at UNI.

‘08 Jes (Phelan) Foster BA, Cedar Falls, Iowa, is co-owner and chef of Moment in Thyme Catering with husband Gary Foster ‘11.

‘09 Amanda Even, BA, Annandale, Va., is the director of the RecWell Adventure Program at the University of Maryland, which received the 2017 David J. Webb Program Excellence Award from the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education.

‘09 Molly Hanson, BA, Des Moines, Iowa, spent last summer paddling with community leaders to educate and get people excited about rivers and streams in Iowa, including participating in Project AWARE on the Upper Cedar.

‘09 Bethany (Schwichtenberg) Krutzfeldt, BA, Minneapolis, Minn., is an accounts supervisor with Periscope ad agency.

2010s

‘10 Amy Green, MA, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, received the Mind Body Instructor of the Year Award at the 2017 New Zealand Exercise Industry Awards.

‘10 Lynsie Maynard, BA, Cedar Falls, Iowa, was named the 2017–18 Outstanding Elementary Art Educator by the Art Educators of Iowa.

‘10 Sean Newlin, BS, Berkeley, Calif., earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy in May 2018. He has focused on issues related to climate change in the U.S. and has also spent time working with the Center for Environmental Public Policy on the implementation challenges of a new rule protecting disadvantaged communities from localized poor air quality.

‘10 Katie (Messerli) VanMeter, BA, Windsor, Colo., started Luna Lab Co., a marketing studio, with husband Nick VanMeter ‘10.

‘11 Ashley Cardamone, BA, MA, Waterloo, Iowa, received a 2018 Cedar Valley Gold Star Award. She is currently a 7th–9th grade art teacher at Holmes Junior High School.

‘11 Brett Caviness, BA, San Carlos, Calif., was named one of Coldwell Banker’s 30 under 30 for 2017 and was one of the 2018 Class of 30 under 30 by the National Association of Realtors and REALTOR Magazine. He is currently a broker sales associate in Menlo Park, California.

‘11 Mike Conrad, BM, Cedar Falls, Iowa, released an album called “New Angle” with his group, the All Angles Orchestra, featuring Alex Sipiagin in June 2017. He was selected as one of eight participants worldwide for the 2017 Metropole Orkest Arranger’s Workshop in the Netherlands. His piece, “Spherical,” was selected for a finalist spot

in the Spheres of a Genius Composition Competition. Mike has been an ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipient for four consecutive years and has won three Downbeat Student Music Awards for composition/arranging in the past two years. Mike also continues to actively perform.

‘11 Gary Foster, BA, Cedar Falls, Iowa, is co-owner of Moment in Thyme Catering with wife Jes (Phelan) Foster ‘08.

‘11 Nicholas Kuhle BA, Waterloo, Iowa, received a 2018 Cedar Valley Gold Star Award. He is currently a 6th grade math teacher at Hoover Middle School.

‘12 Reilly Zlab, BA, Boston, Mass., received the Public Service and Civic Leadership Impact Award from Spark Boston, the City of Boston’s millennial council, for her work in government innovation and technology in the City of Boston.

‘14 Aaron Stolley, BA, Tempe, Ariz., is a basic data unit team lead with the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

‘16 Melia Beschta, BA, New York, N.Y., is a freelance stage manager.

‘16 Hannah (Carr) Carr Murphy, BA, BM ‘16, Saint Paul, Minn., received her MA in community music from the University of Limerick (Ireland) in 2017. She is currently working at the Center for Irish Music in St. Paul, Minnesota.

‘16 Brianna Lewerke, BA, Mason City, Iowa, was promoted to marketing associate manager at SportsEngine, an NBC owned company.

‘16 Katie Patrick, BA, Cedar Falls, Iowa, is a sample control tech with Test America.

‘16 Colin Wilson, BA, Iowa City, Iowa, completed his first semester as a graduate fellow at the University of Iowa pursuing a master’s in vocal performance. He was featured as the tenor soloist for Puccini’s Messa di Gloria at Hancher Auditorium with the combined choirs and the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra.

‘17 Brent Mead BM, Overland Park, Kan., is a member of the UMKC Graduate Fellowship Brass Quintet, which won third place at the 2018 MTNA national chamber competition in the wind division, and was an alternate at the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Brent won the Principal Trombone position in the Wichita Symphony in June 2018.

‘17 Riley Mullins, BA, Iowa City, Iowa, works in the air and water quality branch for Linn County Public Health and is working towards her master’s degree in environmental engineering and science at the University of Iowa.

‘17 Austin Sanford, BA, Lenexa, Kan., is a consultant analyst with Cerner Corporation.

‘17 Rachel Storlie, MM, Spring Grove, Minn., was appointed as an alumni guest lecturer in music at Luther College for the 2017–18 academic year.

‘17 Molly Watson BA, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a graphic designer at Principal Financial Group.

Passings

‘55 Jack Roorda BA, MA ‘59, died Dec. 28, 2016, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

‘60 Nancy (Wallace) Burkhart, BA, died Dec. 6, 2017, in Gaithersburg, Md.

‘60 Kenneth Caquelin, BA, MA ‘64, died July 24, 2017, in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

‘61 Gene Ebner, BA, died Feb. 20, 2016, in Sioux City, Iowa.

‘68 Carolyn (Vance) Burrell, BA, died Oct. 18, 2017, in Milwaukee, Wis.

‘76 Janet Gallagher, BA, MBA ‘81, died Aug. 4, 2016, in Waterloo, Iowa.

College of

University of Northern Iowa Humanities, Arts & Sciences College of

266 Communication Arts Center Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0358

University of Northern Iowa Humanities, Arts & Sciences

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING HAPPENING ON CAMPUS

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Gallery of Art

Fall Exhibitions

Various Shows Running through Nov. 16

Kamerick Art Building Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

Monday-Thursday

Lecture: Karen Oberhauser “Dwindling Numbers for an Iconic Insect”

Oct. 24, 7 p.m.

Room 002, Sabin Hall

UNI Opera presents: Fall Opera Performance

Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m.

Great Hall, Gallagher Bluedorn

Cantorei Concert

Nov. 8, 6 p.m.

Great Reading Room, Seerley Hall

Armistice

Nov. 11, 2 p.m.

Great Hall, Gallagher Bluedorn

Theatre UNI presents: She Kills Monsters

Nov. 28–Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 2, 2 p.m.

Strayer-Wood Theatre

UNI Varsity Men’s Glee Club: Christmas Variety Show

Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 1, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Great Hall, Gallagher Bluedorn

UNI Holiday Concert

Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.

Great Hall, Gallagher Bluedorn

UNI Intrepreters Theatre: An Evening of Text Messages

Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m.

Lang Hall, 040

Theatre UNI presents: Legacy of Light

Feb. 21–23, & Feb.28-Mar2, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 24 & Mar. 3, 2 p.m.

Strayer-Wood Theatre